


Youthful Smile

by CaptainJimothyCarter



Series: Tumblr Prompt Fics [18]
Category: Agent Carter (TV), Captain America (Movies)
Genre: And so is Steve, Because I am a SIMP, De-aged Peggy, Don't @ Me, Drabble, F/M, I still haven't seen it, Just this once everyone lives, Non-Civil War Complient, Steggy - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:41:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26788408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainJimothyCarter/pseuds/CaptainJimothyCarter
Summary: Steve's heart is too heavy to bother to interest himself in anything other than his fist making contact with the boxing bag. That content is familiar. The sting, the sound, even the bag busting under his touch. Yet, when Natasha texts him that he has to come down to medical and refuses to explain why Steve knows what happens when he ignores Natasha.She gets what she wants in the end.
Relationships: Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov
Series: Tumblr Prompt Fics [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1952281
Kudos: 26





	Youthful Smile

_You should come see this. - NR_

Steve frowned at the simple message across his screen, palming the phone in his hands. See what exactly? Natasha knew better than to try to draw Steve out of his room. He needed this time alone to process what in the hell had happened.

Peggy Carter was dead.

Steve knew it would happen. She was reaching close to 90. [He wasn’t sure her exact age given the fact she’s mentioned she’s lied on her forms about her age to him. He was impressed, considering his own lying never worked.] Her mind was slowly giving out on her. Her nurses made mention how it was harder and harder for Peggy to be 100% coherent and not start to slip. Or how she struggled to remember to eat some days.

It hurt. Physically hurt to see Peggy like that. A woman so strong brought down by her own mind. It _hurt._ But Steve refused to leave Peggy’s side, not when he and Sharon were just about one of the only people who could pull Peggy from herself. He refused to leave her. He couldn’t.

Peggy was one of the only lasting people from his past. A lifetime he’s never gotten to live, with a wife he never got to have. She couldn’t leave him, because, without her, Steve was truly alone.

The Howling Commandos had long past beforehand, each in their own various ways. 

He was told just a day ago that Peggy had died, by text no doubt, and Steve’s world crumbled. He withdrew from the team, spending more time than necessary at the gym to feel some sort of emotion beyond this numbing sensation. The team knew better than to bother him. Sam had tried to reach out to him, to not let Steve be alone, but after the Captain had [regretfully] snapped at him, Sam backed off.

He should apologize. 

_What is it? SR_

_Hard to explain. Shield HQ. Medical Wing. B_ _45\. NR_

Steve sighed at the instructions, rubbing a hand over his face. He looked like shit with the bags under his eyes and stubble coming in, his lack of self-care brought on by depression. He couldn’t bring himself to clean himself up as he left the building, the sound of his motorcycle drowning out the sound of the city.

It was sunset by the time he reached HQ and ducked through all the security measures. The building was empty, the sounds of his feet echoing through the halls as he made his way to the closed-off wing. Weird.

What was weirder was the fact the door he was to enter was ajar. He could hear laughter coming from the other side and Steve’s blood ran cold. He knew that laugh. 

He’d first heard it when he made a comment about Hodge passed out on the ground or when Gabe insisted that he was trying to kill them with his cooking skills or when Mortita drunkenly had used his shield as a sled. She could barely keep a straight face when scolding him. Or when Howard and Bucky were the ones who threw the first snowball at her backside. 

He knew that laugh well. It haunted his dreams, but how? It didn’t sound like a recording. There was no feedback sound, no slightly pitched noise that told him so. It sounded _real._

Steve’s heart was in his throat as he gripped his hand into a fist, regretting not bringing his shield. He couldn’t bear to pick it up, the weight of it felt too much. 

The laughter rang out again and Steve gritted his teeth, shouldering the door open, forgetting his strength as it tore straight off its hinges. 

_How?_

Peggy Carter laid in the hospital bed. Her hair was brown and full of curls, no longer whispy and gray. Her face was flawless, not a wrinkle in sight, beyond the laugh lines around her eyes. Her eyes were so full of life and recognized him right away. Various tubes and wires escaped from her, the sound of her heartbeat told him she was alive but how?

“You…you…” His head whirled around to Natasha sitting beside her, silently demanding some explanation. He wanted to run to her, to touch her, to hold her but he refrained and just barely. 

“It’s a long story,” Natasha said in a calm voice, drawing herself to her feet. “We lied, Steve, it’s in the business of being a spy. I didn’t want to lie about this but Fury had ordered me under no circumstances were you to know about this…project. We didn’t want to get your hopes up and have them crushed again.” 

Natasha explained how Steve’s serum was recreated by Shield in the early 1990′s, to be used by the emergency of the Director only. For the Director only. Except, the clause never specified which director [a point Fury was arguing with the council with currently]. Peggy, by all means, was a Director of Shield and due to the mysterious circumstances of loss paperwork, never fully gave up her rights as Director. 

So, when it came time for her death, Fury made the decision to use it on Peggy. They weren’t sure how it would react to her, given the age and circumstances. 

“We didn’t want you to get hurt again,” Natasha told him, reiterating that point. She took the door from him, a sight that wanted to make Steve laugh but he was in too much shock to focus. “Go on. We were just talking about a few of your earlier battle tactics. Wait until James knows about the grenade.”

That drew Steve from his line fo thoughts, the haze clearing, and causing him to swallow. “You tell him about that and I tell him who really stole his favorite hoodie.”

Natasha pouted in a way that told Steve he won. Not that it mattered, his eyes were on Peggy. His legs moved slowly by themselves until he saw where Natasha did. Mere inches between them. His hands shook from the anxiety, the nerves burning in him. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her. She’d been quiet this entire time, letting Steve processes this, letting Natasha talk. She knew this was a hard thing to swallow.

“You’re late,” Steve found himself whispering, his hands closing around her own. They weren’t frail. They were strong and her fingers curled around his own.

“I think you would know a thing or two about lateness.” Despite the smile on her red lips, tears shimmered in Peggy’s eyes. She cupped Steve’s cheek, making no comment on the stubble or bags under his eyes or the tears. “I’m sure you can find it in yourself to forgive me.”

Steve gave a wet laugh as he wrapped his arms around Peggy and just about lifted her off of the bed, instead, half kneeling on it to cover her body with his body. He couldn’t stop the tears, the sobbing. 

“So-so what now?” Steve hiccuped, forced himself to pull away to try to clean himself up. He sat on the bed and held her hand, needing to touch some part of her.

Peggy used the end of the sheet to clean her cheeks off, shaking her head. “What now? I think for one, Captain, you’re going to apologize to your team for neglecting them when they were trying to help,” she gently scolded, causing Steve to flush. “For two, you need to shower, darling. I don’t know how else to put that. Living in a gym is not healthy for you.” She patted his hand in a sympathetic manner, drawing another sobbing laugh from his lips. “Now? Well, I sure hoped my best guy could give me that dance he owes me.”


End file.
